HotSpot: Little Goat Diner

Emma Purcell and Iris Postma

Little Goat Diner is located in the heart of the Fulton Market restaurant district. About a 20 minute ride on public transportation from WY, it is a nontraditional diner with an eclectic menu.

Little Goat has a large and varied menu, but most of the food isn’t classic diner fare. Stephanie Izard, owner and executive chef of Little Goat Diner and winner of Top Chef season 4, shakes it up by incorporating other cultures and combining interesting textures and flavors. The “This Little Piggy Went to China” dish, for example, is essentially a play on eggs benedicts, with a sesame cheddar biscuit, szechuan pork sausage, sunny side up eggs, chili garlic chive sauce and black berries. Also differing from a typical diner are the prices. Brunch for the two of us was just over $40, so this isn’t really the place if you’re craving a cheap and easy breakfast. But, thankfully, it is like a diner in the sense that it serves breakfast all day!

To settle the great brunch debate, sweet or savory, we decided to order both and share. Our shrimp and cheesy grits and dark chocolate chip crunch pancakes came promptly and were both very tasty. The pancakes came with maple syrup and a chocolate malt butter, which was what made them stand out from normal pancakes for us. The shrimp and cheesy grits were the real star though- it was fairly simple but was made from delicious, fresh ingredients and had small, special touches like braised pistachios.

The portions were very reasonable, but if you were still feeling hungry or were in the mood for a coffee to go, you could head over to the attached bakery (you could also stop by there without going to the attached restaurant). They serve Dark Matter coffee, all drinks have the option to be made with goat milk along with more traditional soy, almond, and cow’s milk, and they had a variety of  delicious looking pastries and sandwiches.

Overall, the Little Goat Diner is definitely worth a visit. It might not be your go-to brunch diner, but is the perfect place to celebrate a special occasion.  Izard also owns two other restaurants nearby, Duck Duck Goat and Girl and the Goat, that we’d definitely be interested in checking out in the future!